


Frozen: Wrath of the Lich King

by Darklordi



Category: Frozen (Disney Movies), World of Warcraft
Genre: Alternate Universe, Crossover, Death, Drama, F/M, Fantasy, Ice, Winter, World of Warcraft - Freeform, frozen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-20
Updated: 2020-12-13
Packaged: 2021-03-04 01:09:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 19,880
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24825091
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Darklordi/pseuds/Darklordi
Summary: In the kingdom of Arendelle. 3 years after the death of her parents, Princess Elsa is old enough to succeed her father. When her little sister Anna announces her intention to marry Prince Hans of the Southern Islands, she refuses to give her consent. Faced with Anna's obstinacy, Elsa's anger makes her reveal her great secret; she has the powerful power to control snow and ice, with which she unwittingly and unwittingly plunges the entire kingdom into an eternal winter, as she flees into the mountains. Anna embarks on an incredible journey to find Elsa and warn her, so that she reverses the process ... but what everyone ignores is that far in the dark and desolate lands of the far north, an ancient and forgotten threat has awakened, and now turns his gaze to Arendelle ... The Lich King is coming...
Relationships: Anna & Elsa (Disney), Anna/Kristoff (Disney), Elsa (Disney)/Arthas Menethil, Elsa (Disney)/The Lich King
Comments: 6
Kudos: 15





	1. Prologue

In the distant lands of the far north, where life was impossible ... was a mountain of black rock, larger than all the others ... at the top of this mountain, was a huge throne made entirely of ice, caressed endlessly by the powerful polar winds ... seated on this throne, was a humanoid form, imposing and wearing an intimidating and complete armor, as well as a terrifying and horned helmet covering his face. In one of his hands, he was holding a monstrous sword, adorned with a sort of horned skull and carrying kind of runes on the blade ...  
"My son... the day you were born, the very forest of Lordaeron whispered a name... Arthas..."  
Suddenly, the ice covering the humanoid form slowly began to crack, while the eyes of the thing seemed to open, shining with a supernatural blue glow ...

*************   
Meanwhile....

In the castle and the city of Arendelle bathed in the night, the glow of the aurora borealis coming to reflect on the surface of the water of the fjord, all were asleep and the total silence reigned.  
In a medium-sized and richly decorated room, there were two four-poster beds. In one of them, an eight-year-old girl with blond silver hair was lying, dressed in a blue dressing gown. The girl slept peacefully, warm under her blanket.  
_ "Elsa ....... Elsa, pssssst ...." suddenly whispered a small discreet voice into the room. Another little girl, younger and red-haired, wearing a green dressing gown, appeared next to the bed. Seeing that Elsa did not react, she climbed onto the bed and shook her by the shoulders.  
_ "Elsa, wake up, wake up ...."  
_ "Anna .... go back to sleep ...." Elsa moaned, still half asleep and gently moving her little sister's hands away from her.   
_ "I just can't." Anna sighed, letting herself fall on her sister and staring at the ceiling, "the sky is awake, so I'm awake, so we have to play!"  
_ "Go play by yourself." Elsa answered a little annoyed and pushed her little sister out of bed. Anna stay sat on the floor, showing a frustrated face, and after a few seconds of thought, she seemed to find a good idea by the face and the smile she showed. Riding again on her older sister's bed, Anna opened Elsa's eye forcefully with her hand.  
_ "Do you wanna build a snowman?" Anna asked with a little teasing voice. At this question, Elsa opened her eyes and showed also a smile.  
The two sisters opened the door of their room with the utmost discretion, and both took a look in the big and dark corridor of the castle, completely deserted. Only the wind outside could be heard, rubbing against the windows. Anna took the first step out of the room, discreetly, followed by Elsa, who sometimes looked behind her.  
_ "We must not be caught if we don't want to be eaten." Anna warned, whispering.  
_"What are you talking about?" Elsa asked, staring at her, eyebrow raised.  
_ "The terrifying lich king...." Anna answered, with some childish fear in her eyes "... you know that all the disobedient children are taken to the lich king who lives in the mountains, to be eaten ..."  
Elsa chuckled slightly, putting her hand in front of her mouth.   
_ "Anna ..." Elsa whispered, teasing her little sister to reassure her "...the lich king is just a legend, they never existed ... the parents use this story to keep the kids obedient. Papa told me so."  
_"Oh...." Anna answered, seeming to understand. It is true that the King and Queen, their parents, did not really like the idea of using this horrifying local legend to scare the children and force them to stay wiser. Although she seemed more confident than Anna on the subject, Elsa still remembered some very frightening nightmares that she sometimes made about this monster .... she was still in this same gloomy forest, with black trees extending ad infinitum, an ashen snow covering the ground, and these blue-eyed humanoid creatures, standing between the trunks and getting closer and closer to her ... She, small and helpless, crying and running to escape them, and falling face to face with this blue-eyed shadow, with an armor looking like a steel skeleton, and whose helmet shaped like a skull, is covered with horns forming almost a crown on his head ... The thing then stretched out his cold hand to Elsa to seize her, and each time, she woke up at that moment, sometimes crying and alerting her parents in the middle of the night.  
_ "Elsa?"  
Elsa emerged from her thoughts, to see Anna looking at her with puzzlement. "are you alright?"  
_ "Yes, yes, it's nothing. Elsa answered, acting as if nothing had happened, but having still felt a slight shiver of anguish at these memories of nightmares.  
The two sisters ran as discreetly as possible, down the big stairs while giggling and heading for the throne room of the castle. Closing the doors behind them to make sure they were not heard, they could start having fun together as they used to do.  
_ "Come on, do the magic! Do the magic!" Anna asked, stamping with impatience. Elsa smiled and in a circular motion of her little hands, showing small sparks of ice and forming a kind of small glossy sphere frozen between her fingers. Anna stared at it with a glance of admiration.  
_ "Ready?" Elsa asked, which Anna nodded immediately. Without further ado, Elsa threw the ice sphere into the air, which exploded into thousands of tiny icy sparks falling in twinkling rain all over the room.   
_ "This is amazing!" Anna screamed enthusiastically as she jumped trying to catch some of the glittering flakes falling around her.  
_ "Watch this." Elsa told her, and right after that, put her foot on the ground, causing a layer of ice that gradually covered the floor of the room, forming a large ice rink.  
For the next hour, the two sisters of Arendelle played together, in the middle of the snowy layer that Elsa had created with her powers. Together, they built the snowman that they wanted so much. Anna sat on the king's throne and made funny faces, while Elsa brought the final touch to the snowman and showed it to Anna.  
"_Hi, I'm Olaf, and I like warm hugs." Elsa made a funny voice as she waved the snowman's wooden arms, which amused Anna a lot, who snuggled fondly against the snowman.  
_ "I love you Olaf!"  
The games followed one after the other: Elsa and Anna sliding on the rink with their imaginary new friend Olaf, then sliding on the big snow slopes created by Elsa. Anna slipped away and landed in the snow, forming a crater and pulled out, covered in powdery snow, laughing heartily. Anna then began to leap, which Elsa held out her hands, forming large pillars of snow to allow her sister to go higher and higher.  
But as she continued to laugh heartily with her sister while continuing to create the pillars with her magic, other flashes, like stealthy visions, suddenly popped up in the mind of Elsa, who had dropped her guard without wanting it. With horror, she relives these humanoid forms with blue smoky eyes shining, standing in the dark bllizzard and looking at her .... a huge army of blue eyed shadows walking slowly in the snow storm.... this blue-eyed horned shadow leaning towards her and stretching his armored icy hand to grab her ....  
_"NO!" screamed Elsa with terror and stretching out her hand to drive the monster away from her. Unfortunately, Elsa's hand expelled a projectile of ice that hit Anna in the head as she leaped into the air. Horrified, Elsa saw her little sister rolling in the snow and not moving.  
_ "ANNA!!" Elsa screamed as she rushed on her knees to her little sister, taking her in his arms and shaking her slightly to hope for a reaction, but nothing. Not seeing her open her eyes, tears came to Elsa's eyes.  
_ "MAMA!! PAPA!!" she cried, and hugged Anna against her. Unwittingly, Elsa unleashed her power that spread around her even more ice freezing the pillars of the room, the walls and even the doors. "You okay Anna....I got you...." Elsa cried, holding her sister against her. Having heard the distress call of their daughter, the king and queen, having been forced to break through the doors because of the frost, managed to enter, to discover with amazement and fear the entire room covered with ice, but most of all, their daughter Anna, unconscious, in Elsa's arms.  
_ "Elsa, what have you done?! This is getting out of hand!" said the king, in a tone of anger and fear, while running with his wife to their daughters.  
_ "It ... it was an accident ..... I'm sorry Anna ...." Elsa wanted to give an explanation, but too shocked by what she had done. The Queen gently took Anna in her arms to see the facts.  
_ "She is ice cold!" the queen gasped, more than worried about her daughter. The king seemed to think of a means and seemed to find it quickly.  
_ "I know where we have to go."  
Elsa gasped, afraid of what her father had just said.  
_ "No, please, don't take me to the lich king, please ...." Elsa begged, in tears. Although she was more confident than Anna and assured of the non-existence of these creatures, Elsa had a deep sense of fear about them in the event of their existence. Seeing their daughter thus, the king and queen looked at each other, a little confused.  
_ "Elsa, come on ..." said the king, taking her gently by the shoulders "... the lich king does not exist, you know it, I told you."  
_ "But .... but where are we going then?" Elsa asked, wiping tears from her eyes.  
_ "We'll see the only people who can save your sister." replied the king.  
After having searched the royal library and finally found an old map hidden in a former big book, the king and queen, taking their daughters with them on their horses, left the castle and the city in the night, as quickly as possible, towards the forest.  
Elsa, holding behind her father, involuntarily left a thin trail of ice behind her, which was noticed by a boy sitting on a sledge pulled by a little reindeer, who saw these two horses and their riders go at full speed, running to through the dark forest.  
_ "Ice?" the young man questioned himself, puzzled by this phenomenon and decided to follow these mysterious horsemen.  
_ "Faster, Sven!" the boy, sitting on his little reindeer, spun among the pines, following the trail of ice which formed a very easy track to follow in the middle of the grass. They followed the trail to a remote valley of rock in the forest. Hidden behind rocks, the boy and the reindeer approached without a sound, to observe what is happening. The king and queen and their daughters stood in the middle of this great rocky space filled with small round rocks.  
_ "Please! Help!" the king seemed to call someone in the night "It's ... it's my daughter .... she is hurt!"  
Suddenly, the many round rocks began to move and roll all together, gradually encircling the royal couple and their daughters. Elsa snuggles up against her father's legs. The round rocks turned out to be small, humanoid creatures with pointed ears, gray and rocky skin, and clothes made of moss.  
_ "It's the king." said one of them, astonished, like the others, by this presence. Behind a rock, the boy and the reindeer, also surprised, watched all this in secret.  
_ "Trolls?!!" the boy said, but suddenly interrupted by the rock behind which they were hiding and was actually a troll woman.  
_ "Shhh, I'm trying to listen." she says. Then, seeing the faces of the two little ones next to her, she seemed softened.  
_ "Oh, cuties .... I'm gonna keep you."  
Meanwhile, a troll in particular, known from all as Grand Pabbie, much older than the others and seeming to be the leader, had advanced before the royal couple.  
_ "Your majesty," he greeted in a respectful bow to the monarch, before taking Elsa's hand to examine it more closely. "Born with the power, or cursed?"  
_ "Born ..." said the king "... and it getting stronger."  
Before his explanations, the wise troll then decided to examine little Anna, still unconscious and warmly wrapped in a blanket in her mother's arms. The troll put his hand on the little girl's forehead, and after sounding her mind, seemed more confident.  
_ "You are lucky it was not the heart ..." he explained "... the heart is not so easily changed, but the head can be persuaded."  
_ "Do what you must." the king asked categorically, holding Elsa by the shoulder. Pabbie nodded softly and again placing his hand on Anna's head, pulled out a sort of floating purple-purple cloud, which in the eyes of everyone floated in the air. The foggy energy then formed images, or rather memories of the two sisters, playing together while Elsa was using her powers.  
_"I recommend we remove all magic....even memories of magic....to be safe....but don't worry, I leave the fun...." While speaking and making use of his powers, the troll changed Anna's memories, transforming the situations of magic into ordinary situations, then, after having gathered them in his hand, came to impregnate these modified memories in the spirit of the sleeping Anna, who suddenly seemed more peaceful. "She will be okay." the troll affirmed with confidence.  
_ "And .... she won't remember that I have powers?" Elsa asked, still a little hesitant and worried.  
_ "It's for the best." said the king, taking her gently by the shoulder.  
_ "Listen to me, Elsa ...." then said the old troll in a calm voice to the girl "... your power will only grow ..." he then made appear other hazy images in the air through his magic, in the sight of all. The shape represented Elsa, adult, creating things with her magic and surrounded by people and children, fascinated and smiling. "There's beauty in it, but alos great danger ...." At these words, the giant snowflake created by the adult Elsa exploded and stained with a threatening red color. Elsa gasped, surprised and intimidated. "... you must learn to control it, fear will be your enemy ..." the hazy forms of the happy and smiling people then turned red, taking the form of distorted and monstrous things and jumping on Elsa, engulfing her in a terrifying red flash. Elsa gasped, terrified, and took refuge in her father's arms.  
_ "No, we will protect her ..." the king asserted forcefully, taking his wife by the shoulder "... she can learn to control it, I'm sure."  
_ "I hope so, your majesty, and I wish you with all my heart ..." said the troll sincerely. "But stay on your guard ...." he warned Elsa then, while the magic haze gave birth to a new form .... shapes that Elsa thought to recognize with fear .... humanoid shadows with blue eyes, advancing gradually out of the shadows and approaching, spreading death and cold all around them, and the first of these monsters carrying like a crown on his head ...." because it could be that a much darker power appears one day, coming for you ... when the ice and death meet, the balance of the world could depend on it .... " Pabbie explained, as the hazy cloud once again showed Elsa, adult, and that horned humanoid creature facing her, and each one rising gently one hand towards the other, before evaporating into the air.  
Elsa stared with a great fear, snuggled against her parents, who seemed more than perplexed by the warning.  
_ "Who .... who would come for me?!" Elsa asked, although deep inside her, she was afraid to think of an answer, however unthinkable.  
_ "I don't know ...." Pabbie said, looking sorry ... "That's why you'll have to be more than cautious with your powers, Elsa ... do not use them, only in case of extreme necessity."


	2. The Coronation

After having healed their daughter Anna by the trolls and changing her memories, King Agnarr of Arendelle took steps to protect his daughter Elsa from her own powers. To limit the risks, the castle gates were closed, the staff was limited, and above all, Elsa had to limit any contact with anyone. No one had to know she had powers, not even her little sister.  
Not suspecting anything and having in mind only the happy memories, Anna did not understand what was happening, seeing her big sister whom she loved so much to move away from her, isolating herself alone in her room and refusing any contact with her. Anna lived this with great suffering, a suffering she could not even understand.   
Winter came, and one day Anna could see with great enthusiasm the snow flakes falling outside. Very happy, she went to knock on the door of Elsa's room.  
_ "Elsa? Do you wanna build a snowman? Come on, let's go and play ...." Anna asked with an ounce of hope, but received no response. Anna was not discouraged and insisted, even trying to look below the door.  
_ "I never see you anymore ..... Come out the door .... it's like you've gone away ..... We used to be best buddies, and now we're not. I wish you would tell me why .... "  
_ "Go away, Anna ..." Elsa's voice finally answered, showing no anger, but a deep desire to stay alone.  
_ "Okay .... bye ...." Anna, disappointed, finally gave up and turned around, not without a last look back at Elsa's door.  
In her room, isolated from the rest of the world, Elsa spent most of her time contemplating through the large window, offering a splendid view of the fjord and its mountains, but also, closer, to the gardens of the castle, where held the beautiful cut hedges and the grass turned white because of the frost. From her window, Elsa could also see, standing in the middle of this garden, the tall and majestic white tree, a very old tree with a white trunk like chalk and blood-red leaves, which managed to withstand the cold contrary to other trees. According to the legends, this tree was there long before the castle and the city were built all around. Legend said that, millenias ago, was existing a kingdom named Lordaeron, that existed here long before the birth of Arendelle. The inhabitants, by order of their king, have put these giant and beautiful white scared trees in this land as symbols of their power. The monarchs of Arendelle having a deep respect for these beliefs of their ancestors, had decided to let this tree here, as a vestige of a distant past.  
Behind her window, Elsa watched the white and old Lordaeron tree, sometimes with the feeling that it was staring at her. Elsa, however, dropped her guard for a second and then saw, gasping, a thin layer of ice come from her palms and come to cover the edge of her window.  
At this, the king found another solution and sent for his daughter in the big living room of the castle, near the comforting warmth of the fireplace: he had put a pair of white gloves to Elsa, which she should keep all the time.  
_ "The gloves will help ...." says the king putting the second glove to his daughter and holding her by the hand "... see .... conceal it ..."  
_ "Don't feel it .... don't let it show ...." Elsa then said, repeating her words with her father as a lesson to learn and remember by heart.  
The seasons and years passed, Anna and Elsa growing up. When she became a teenager, Anna, after another attempt to get her sister out of her bedroom and ended in another failure, had to go play alone again. Going to the gardens to play.  
But for Elsa, the more years passed, and the more the fear intensified. Despite her gloves, her powers managed to manifest themselves. Walking up and down, frightened near a wall she had accidentally frozen, Elsa was afraid.  
_ "I'm scared! It's getting stronger!!"  
_ "Getting upset only makes it worse. Calm down..." the king told her, trying to approach her to reassure her, which Elsa drew back even more.  
_ "No! Don't touch me! Please, I don't want to hurt you." Elsa begged, huddled against the wall, in front of her parents, feeling completely overwhelmed by the events and sad to see their daughter in this state of mind. The powers of Elsa were not her only fear: over the years, these dreams, or visions, about the wild hunt had intensified .... One night, she even thought to see the ice-horned one arise in the the darkness of her room to seize her by the throat.  
A few years passed. The king and queen of Arendelle had to go on a trip to meet the rulers of an allied kingdom on the other side of the ocean. Aged 15, Anna came to see them in their royal apartments, and she hugged them hard against her.  
_ "See you in two weeks ..." Anna sighed, not wanting her parents to leave so long. Elsa, too, came to say goodbye to her parents, but depriving herself of being able to hug them in her arms and contented herself with greeting them with a slight bow.  
_ "Do you have to go?" she asked, looking worried.  
_ "You'll be fine, Elsa." replied the king to reassure her with a smile.  
As agreed, the sovereigns of Arendelle boarded the scheduled day on their ship and began the long journey. Unfortunately, not everything went as planned and it was during a terrible storm that the royal couple died, they, the crew and the entire ship were swallowed by the ruthless anger of the elements.  
The death of the king and the queen was a tragedy for the whole kingdom. It was to the young Princess Anna that fell the heavy and painful task of attending the funeral of her parents, in the presence of the inhabitants of the city, on a foggy and gray day, as if the weather itself was in mourning. Standing between the two large gravestones that were erected in memory of the deceased rulers, Anna remained silent, dressed in black. Little lords, vassals of the royal family, had come, to pay their tribute to the dead sovereigns.   
Elsa, forced to stay in her room, had to let her little sister face this ordeal alone, and remorse was eating her up even more. Sitting against the door of her room, silent, Elsa then heard small timid tappings behind the door ....  
_ "Elsa? ...." Anna then said on the other side, in a sad voice "... Please, I know you're in there ... People are asking where you've been. They say, "have courage" and I'm trying to. I'm right out here for you, just let me in ..... We only have each other. It's just you and me .... What are we gonna do?" Anna said all that, broken, and letting herself gently slide back against the door, sitting in the hallway.  
_ "I just wanted ..... to build a snowman ...." she could add, before being overwhelmed by grief. Hearing everything behind the door, Elsa did not answer, but burst into tears, the pain being too powerful in the middle of her room, completely cold and frozen.

***********   
Three years later....

Far from the harsh and cold north mountains, a new and beautiful sunny day had just risen on the city of Arendelle. Many large ships, bearing the distinguished flags of allied kingdoms and trading partners, arrived one after the other in the great port. In the streets of the city, all the inhabitants had put on their best clothes and crowded in front of the castle gates. Today was a very special day because the young princess Elsa was going to be crowned new queen of the kingdom of Arendelle.  
_ "Welcome to Arendelle, my lords and ladies .... please, go to the castle, the gates will open soon ..." said the port master to the arrivals on the docks.   
On the main square in front of the small bridge leading to the castle, colorful garlands had been installed, giving a cheerful air to the scene, while the inhabitants were hurrying to cross the bridge to get the best seats when the gates were open. Coming from his ship, a little man with grizzled mustaches, wearing a rich outfit adorned with medals and other awards, escorted by his two bodyguards, cast a very interested glance towards the castle.  
_"Ah, Arendelle....our most mysterious trade partner...." he said while rubbing his hands "...open those gates so I may unlock your secrets and exploit your riches....uh, did I say that out loud?"

************   
Although the end of the morning approaches, Anna was still asleep in her bed, under her blanket, her huge red hair completely untied and a small trickle of saliva flowing down her mouth. Hits at the door suddenly made her out of her sleep and she sat up, her eyes still asleep.  
_ "Yeah?" she sighed in a still tired voice.  
_ "Princess Anna?" said the servant's voice behind the door "... sorry to wake you ...."  
_ "No, no, no, no, you didn't ...." Anna cut him off, though unable to open his eyes "... I've been up for hours ...." she siad, before suddenly falling back into a sort of mini sleep, sitting in bed, just before reacting again.  
_ "Who is this?"  
_ "Still me, ma'am .... the gates will open soon, time to get ready.."  
_ "Of course ...." Anna said, stretching out her arms and trying to get out of her torpor "... ready for what?"  
_ "Your sister's coronation, ma'am ...." says the servant Kai. Anna slowly opened her eyes, then staring at the elegant, beautiful green dress in the black corset that stood there in the room, waiting to be set for the party.   
The sight of her ceremonial dress pulled Anna out of her torpor all at once, her face glowing with unparalleled joy.  
_ "It's coronation day!!" she gasped, jumping out of bed. Anna dressed very quickly in her dress, running out of her room while finishing adjusting her hair, and unable to contain the immense joy she had held for so long. Seeing the servants opening the shutters and opening the windows to let in the clean air, Anna leapt for joy and rushed to one of the windows, seeing behind the walls of the castle, the large sails of ships arriving at the port.  
_ "Wow .... Finally, they're opening the gates! I'm ready for this change! I can't wait to meet everyone .... and .... what if I meet .... THE one?!" she gasped, dreamily, at the thought of being able to meet among the crowd of guests, that of a man who could make her heart beat.  
Meanwhile, being wake up since longer than her sister and having spent a short night due to stress, Elsa timidly approached the large window of her room, her hair combed in a bun, also wearing a large ceremonial dress and carrying behind her a large purple cape. Seeing the crowd of people gathering in front of the doors, she sighed heavily, not smiling. For her, it was not a day of rejoicing.  
Leaving the window, she stopped in front of a scupled wooden table, and on the wall opposite stood a large portrait of her father, the late King, on the day of his coronation, holding in his hands the sacred golden objects that each monarch had to hold as symbols of his coronation.  
_ "Don't let them in ..... don't let them see ...." she repeated, softly, the words she had learned by heart from her father to keep herself calm "...be the good girl you always have to be....conseal, don't feel....Put on a show. Make one wrong and everyone will know...."  
While repeating her words, she looked at her gloved hands, while remaining as calm as possible.  
_ "Father, please ... give me the strength ..." she sighed sadly, before breathing heavily. The moment had come. Elsa went to her door and opened it in front of the servants who were standing upright in the large corridor and waiting for the next order of the future sovereign.  
_ "Tell the guards to open up the gates!" she ordered, her heart beating. She said the order, no way to go back now.

**********   
As Elsa arrived on the big balcony of the castle to have a bird's eye view of the guests, Anna stood in the courtyard, just in front of the gates that were finally opened. The first guests began to enter into calm and order, while Anna rushed, excited, outside the walls, to greet all the people she saw and welcome them.  
Feeling finally freed from her golden prison and admiring all the decorations that were installed for the day of the coronation, Anna was as excited as ever, running everywhere without really paying attention to her own safety. As she ran along one of the docks, feeling free as the air, she was suddenly jostled by a horse. Carried by the shock, Anna fell backwards into a rowboat on the edge of the wharf, which, under the weight of the young woman, began to fall backwards towards the water. Immediately, the hoof of the horse held the rowboat. Anna came to her senses to see who had jostled her like this.  
_ "Oh I'm ... I'm so sorry! Are you hurt?" asked the horseman, who turned out to be a young man with short brown hair, and richly dressed in a white-gray military uniform. Anna could not answer right away, she was so captivated by the man's face. Never before had she seen such a handsome man, she told herself.   
_ "Hmm ... no, no, I'm okay ...." finally answered the princess by managing to articulate her words and wanting to get up as if nothing had happened.  
_ "Are you sure? Let me help you." really worried the young man coming down from his horse and coming from that not help Anna to whom he held out his hand. The young princess seemed flattered by this gallantry, and looking at him in the eyes without saying a word, but smiling, took her hand and rose to her feet.  
_ "Oh, um .... Prince Hans, of the Southern Isles." said the young man, presenting himself in a most formal bow, his hand on his chest.  
_ "Princess Anna of Arendelle." she returned the reverence as she should.  
_ "Princess? ...... my lady!" the young prince gasped and knelt immediately, head down, in front of Anna, a little embarrassed. The horse reacted like his master and accidentally moved the rowboat, which then made Anna fall on Hans, by accident. The two looked at each other, a little embarrassed by the situation with little laughs.  
_"Well, um, this is awkward. Not your awkward, but just because we're...I'm awkward, you're gorgeous....wait what?"   
Anna mixed her words, not knowing what to say and realizing her last words. Hans seemed amused and helped her to get back on her feet again.  
_ "I'd like to formally apologize for hitting the princess of Arendelle with my horse and for every moment after." the prince excused himself very politely.  
_"Oh, no, no, no, it's fine. I'm not that princess. I mean if you hit my sister Elsa, would be yeesh, but lucky you, it's just me." once again, Anna spoke a little too fast and lost herself in her words while returning to the dock and smiling at Hans, very shy.  
_ "Just you?" Hans asked, raising an eyebrow. Anna simply nodded, unable to look away from the young man she found so gallant and handsome. Hans, too, seemed not to be insensitive to the young woman's charm. But suddenly, the bells of the castle began to resonate through the city, pulling Anna out of her thoughts.  
_ "The bells? The coronation! I .... I better go, I have to go ... um, bye ....." she stammered and after a sign of goodbye to Hans, made half turn and ran towards the castle, leaving Hans, somewhat perplexed, but gave a small smile and also saying goodbye to the young princess.

***********   
Shortly before the coronation ceremony began and would designate her as the new sovereign of the kingdom, Elsa had isolated herself a few moments in the royal gardens, and more precisely at the foot of the great Lordaeron tree, which the old and gnarled trunk rose more than ten meters high. Elsa gazed at the many red leaves lulled by the soft, gentle breeze from the south, which she also smelled on her face and in her hair.  
The engraved and somewhat intimidating symbols on the tree faced her. Every time she looked at it, Elsa had an unpleasant shudder. She could feel a powerful magic emanating from this tree, like the magic that flowed in her veins.  
After looking around her to make sure she was alone, Elsa took off one of her gloves carefully and, after a moment's hesitation and her hand slightly trembling, gently placed her palm against the tree's bark, just next to the symbols.   
Immediately, a series of terrifying and fast images appeared to her in her mind ...... Arendelle, buried under the snow and the ice, in a night darker than the others ..... Arendelle devoid of any sign of life and reduced to the state of frozen ruins ..... a kind of dark and rocky fortress in the middle of the mountains ... a blizzard of extreme violence raging, and an army of blue-eyed shadows beginning to appear there, walking towards the frozen Arendelle...  
"A much darker power appears one day, coming for you ... when the ice and death meet, the balance of the world could depend on it ...."   
Pabbie's wise voice echoed like an echo from the past. Elsa remembered that night. Seeing there the accident with Anna, her parents when they left on the trip that would see their death, her relationship destroyed with her little sister ....   
Then, Elsa saw the landscape unfold before her eyes, as if it were the wind and floated beyond the forests and the mountains, passing the north mountains and now floating above the legendary lands and frozen from beyond the frontiers of the kingdom ... She was now flying in the middle of a snowstorm .... Then, her attention turned to countless shapes slowly moving in the middle of this endless blizzard ... an imposing and seemingly infinite army was on the march .... an army of humanoids, with blue eyes and dressed with armors... they were looking like undead, with rotten and frozen skin... And, standing on top of a rocky hill and overlooking the army, stood a particular silhouette, mounted on a cadaverous armored horse .... his inhuman blue eyes, his big and scary armor, his helmet and his black cape floating in the wind .... Elsa recognized him as the terrifying creature of nightmares of many children of the kingdom, of whom she ... it was him, she was sure about it... the Lich King...   
Suddenly, the Lich King turned his face and looked up at the sky, staring directly at Elsa, as if he had felt her presence.  
The magic cut off at that moment and Elsa moved back quickly from the tree, panting and trembling with fear. Her hand had involuntarily covered the bark of the tree with a thin layer of ice. Heart pounding as if out of her chest and still haunted by this terrifying look on her, Elsa did everything to try to regain her composure, closing her eyes and breathing normally, emptying her mind and putting her glove back on. ... She was there, safely, in the gardens of Arendelle, and nothing could happen to her ....  
_ "Ma'am?"  
Elsa jumped at this voice, which surprised her, but regained her composure by noting that it was the servant Kai.  
_"Yes?" she said standing upright and formal.  
_"It's time." replied the servant, inviting her to follow him, while the bells began to ring, announcing the beginning of the ceremony and the ascent of the future monarch of Arendelle.


	3. Ice and Fear

The hour of the ceremony had finally come. The highest dignitaries of the kingdoms invited had been gathered, sitting in perfect rows on the benches in the great chapel of Arendelle and its majestic windows. Although having kept some vestiges of the age of the old gods within their walls, Arendelle had been converted for several centuries to the religion of the unique god and his church.  
Under the religious chants of the choir, all waited in utter silence, while Elsa stood upright in front of the sacred altar, and preparing to face her destiny. On the side, stood Anna, who glanced, saw Hans sitting among the other lords, the latter making a small wave of the hand, she returned him discreetly.  
Elsa bowed while, standing in front of her, the high priest of the chapel placed the queen's golden diadem on her head, thus styling her as a sovereign symbol. Elsa lifted her head, without a smile, and saw the priest take in his hands the cushion on which were placed the sacred artifacts, the sphere and the scepter, which she should hold a few moments in front of all in order to complete her ascension to power. Elsa got ready to take them, but a small throar clearing from the priest made her stop.  
_ "Your majesty .... the gloves ...." warns the priest as low as possible. Elsa's heart jumped, but she hid her worry as much as possible. It was what she did fear above all. But all eyes were on her, she had to obey the tradition. Taking a deep breath, she withdrew her gloves, her hands slightly trembling, and gently took the sphere and the scepter, then turned to the congregation who all rose respectfully, while the priest pronounced the sacred verses, proclaiming the young Princess Elsa, new queen and protector of Arendelle.  
While holding the artifacts in her hands, Elsa almost held her breath, emptying her mind and trying to maintain her stress in her. Unfortunately, the visions of the Lordaeron tree did not stop haunting her, especially the monstrous eyes of this scary ice horned king who stared at her, as if piercing her soul ... At that moment, she had felt a much greater and deeper fear, as well as a very dark magic, much more powerful and ancient than hers.... but how could he have seen her without her being physically present to him? Or was it just a nightmare that looked more than real?  
All these unanswered questions only accentuated the fear of Elsa, who saw of the corner of her eye, a very thin layer of ice starting to rise from her palms. Once the verses were spoken, Elsa hastened to put off the objects and put her gloves on, without anyone noticing the ice, although Benjen, at bottom, being an experienced ranger, had observed the strange nervousness of the young queen, and seemed perplexed. Now proclaimed queen, Elsa saw the whole assembly bow before her, including her little sister Anna.

************  
That evening, a big party was held in the great throne room, decorated in honor of the new queen. The music played by the small orchestra played melodically, while several elegantly dressed men and ladies danced in a circle in the space provided for this purpose, in the middle of the hall, to the applause of the crowd. Then the music was silent as the servant Kai came to the sight of all.  
_ "Queen Elsa of Arendelle." he announced in a high and clear voice, while Elsa, in her queen's robe and wearing the diadem, was advancing straight, just in front of the throne. The whole assembly bowed as it should.  
_ "Princess Anna of Arendelle." Kai announced next. Anna then ran in her prom dress and stood to one side, some distance from her sister. Kai insisted, however, and placed her next to the queen. "Oh, here?" Anna asked, a little surprised "Are you sure?" Cause I don't think .... "  
She did not have time to finish her sentence that she was placed next to her sister, while the crowd applauded them both, before the music resumed and people continue their various discussions while sipping the delicious beverages made available by the servants. Anna, a little embarrassed, not knowing what to do, stood next to Elsa, who also a little embarrassed, turned her eyes to her little sister.  
_ "Hi." Elsa said softly.  
_ "Hi .... hi me?" Anna asked a little confused. "Oh, um ... Hi."  
_ "You look beautiful." complimented Elsa kindly.  
_ "Thank you ..." Anna replied with a smile, "you look beautifuler, Uh, I mean, you're not fuller, but, more beautiful." once again, Anna got a little excited in her words, which made Elsa laugh softly, and smiled at her too.  
_ "Thank you." Elsa thanked her sincerely, before the two sisters came back for a few seconds in silence, watching the crowd in front of them. "So .... this is what a party looks like."  
_ "It's warmer than I thought." Anna answered, trying to fill the awkward silence that had fallen.  
_ "And what is this amazing smell?" Elsa asked. Indeed, Anna also smelled a familiar and very pleasant smell. The two sisters felt this perfume in their nostrils and looking into each other's eyes, pronounced exactly the same word at the same time.  
_ "Chocolate!" it made them laugh together, the first time in a long time. Anna was about to say something else, but Kai's voice preceded her.  
_ "Your majesty ...." the servant then introduced the little old man with mustaches and gray hair and pointed nose. "The duke of Weasel-town."  
_ "WESELTON!!" immediately corrected the little man with an annoyed look, before turning back to the two sisters with a smile and kindness. "The Duke of Weselton, your majesty."  
Although she had never met him before, Elsa had already heard about her father's business with Weselton, and learned that although he looked kind and frail in appearance, the Duke had a reputation for being someone ambitious, a little too much sometimes, in business.  
_ "As your closest partner in trade ..." continued the duke "... it seems fitting that I offer your first dance as queen." he bowed after a few big, wacky gestures, his hair turning out to be a wig covering his bald head, threatening to come off. Seeing this, Elsa and Anna had to retain themselves of laughing without him noticing. Elsa quickly became serious and gave her answer as kindly as possible.  
_ "Thank you, but only, I don't dance."  
_"Oh?" the duke seemed a little disappointed.  
_ "But my sister does." Elsa pointed to Anna, who she thought was a joke at first, but realized quickly that no when the duke, delighted, took her by the arm, telling her she was lucky. Anna was taken to the dance floor by the little man, under the somewhat mocking look of Elsa.  
_ "Sorry." said the queen, laughing gently.  
The dance with the duke turned out to be most singular, the little man jumping everywhere making absurd gestures that attracted the attention of all and embarrassed Anna more than anything else. The duke even tried to extract, as if nothing had happened, information about Arendelle from the young princess, who must have confessed she knew nothing. After long minutes, Anna managed to escape the duke and returned to her sister who was laughing a little.  
_ "Wow, he was sprightly." Elsa says.  
_ "Yeah, especially for a man in heels." Anna replied rubbing her aching foot that the duke accidentally stomped during the dance.  
_ "Are you okay?" Elsa asked, unable to stop herself from making fun of her little sister, not maliciously.  
_ "Yeah, I've never been better, this is so nice ..." Anna answered with sincere joy "... I wish it would be like this all the time."  
_ "Me too." Elsa answered softly with sincerity to her sister. But doubt and fear caught her mind as her smile disappeared from her lips, her mind reminding her of the visions of the accident with Anna as children, the loss of control of her powers as she grew up, and above all, that terrifying ice king looking up at her like an obscure shadow hovering over her and haunting her every passing moment. For a moment, Elsa could almost feel like if he was just here, next to her, ready to catch her with his cold hands. "But it can't."  
_ "Why not?" Anna asked, somewhat confused at this change of attitude.  
_ "It just can't!" Elsa insisted, interrupting her sister who was going to insist on the subject. Seeing her sister who had turned away from her and lost her smile and warm tone for a reason she did not understand, Anna also lost her smile.  
_ "Excuse me for a minute...." Anna said quietly as she walked away into the crowd. Elsa gave one last sorry look at her. She was suffering from having to do this to the only member of her family who stayed with her, but she was doing this to protect her, even if it meant a definitive separation. If what Pabbie had said turned out to be true, if a much darker power should one day came for her, Elsa would want to be the only one to face it and not put her little sister in danger.  
Anna walked in the middle of the crowd, having to hold back a tear. She hoped so much that this discussion with her sister could finally bring them closer, as before, but it was not so. Suddenly, a guest accidentally jostled the young princess who almost fell backwards but was caught by the hand of someone familiar.  
_ "Glad I caught you."  
_ "Hans." Anna regained her smile, her cheeks slightly red. Hans put the glass he was holding in his hand and helping Anna to get up, took her by the hands and started a waltz with her while the music started again.

*********  
While Elsa was talking with the other lords, Anna had spent the rest of the party talking to Hans after their dance, talking about various topics, and now they were both a little out of the way, on a flowered balcony, taking advantage of the soft evening breeze and moonlight. Anna had bet Hans could eat several whole chocolates at the same time.  
_ "Yea, the whole thing! You got it!" Anna laughed as Hans finished eating the last chocolate and laughing too. "Ok, wait, wait .... so, you have how many brothers?"  
_ "Twelve older brothers ..." Hans replied "... three of them pretented I was invisible, Literally, for two years."  
_ "It's horrible." Anna said, sorry for him.  
_ "It's what brothers do." Hans replied with a slight shrug.  
_ "And sisters ...." Anna sighed heavily "... Elsa and I were really close when we were little, but then .... one day .... she just shut me out and .... I never knew why .... "  
In front of Anna's sad look at this childhood memory, Hans looked sorry for her and gently put his hand on hers.  
_ "I would never shut you out." he says, looking straight at her eyes. Once again, Anna blushed, touched by these words.  
_ "Um .... okay, can I just say something crazy?" she asked after a moment's hesitation. Hans raised an eyebrow, but smiled too.  
_ "I love crazy." was his answer, to the delight of Anna. She turned on the balcony, admiring the shining moonlight in the night sky, and spoke again.  
_ "You know .... all my life has been like a series of doors in my face..." she explained, as Hans was listening right next to her. "...and suddenly, I bump into you."  
He nodded, seeming to understand and admired the moon too.  
_ "I was thinking the same thing, 'cause I've been looking for my whole place, and maybe ..... it's the party talking, or the chocolate fondue."  
Anna and he laughed together after this last sentence, which he tried with a hint of humor.  
_ "But with you ...." they began to say in unison, realizing and laughing together again, then realizing that their hands were touching. Their eyes met and both seemed to share the same thought.  
_ "Can I say something crazy?" Hans asked after a few seconds of hesitation. Anna nodded, then was very surprised to see him kneel before her, holding her by the hand. "Will you marry me?"  
Anna's heart leaped with endless surprise in her chest and her cheeks turned red. The joy she felt was second to none.  
_ "Can I say something even crazier?" she said, to which Hans nodded.  
"YES!"

**********  
Anna, accompanied by Hans, had returned to the throne room where the party was going on. Meanwhile, Elsa had done everything to clear her mind and had focused on meeting other distinguished guests, talking with them about various topics, such as possible and future agreements between kingdoms that could lead to great things.  
_ "Elsa!" she then heard the voice of her sister Anna and took leave of her guests to turn to her, seeing Anna come accompanied by a young elegant man that Elsa had already seen among the guests. "Uh, I mean, queen. Me again, umm .... I would like to present Prince Hans of the Southern Isles."  
_ "Your majesty." greeted Hans, bowing respectfully. Elsa greeted him with a slight nod, but seemed perplexed to see them both nervous and happy, holding each other's arm in a very intimate way.  
_ "We would like ...." they started to say both, quite nervous "... your blessing for .... our marriage!"  
_ "M .... Marriage?!" Elsa answered, showing a great confused expression.  
_ "Yes!" Anna said, stamping with excitement. Elsa took a few seconds to process the surprise information in her mind a little disconcerted and wanting to be sure of what she had just heard.  
_ "I'm sorry, but I'm confused."  
_ "Well, we haven't worked out all the details yet, we'll need to plan the ceremony, of course we'll have soup roast and ice cream, and then - Wait! Would we live here?!!" Anna spoke very quickly, carried away by her excitement, in front of Elsa, who was completely perplexed.  
_ "Here?!" Elsa answered, disconcerted.  
_ "Yes, absolutely!" Hans replied to Anna, showing as much enthusiasm as she did and without taking into account what Elsa had just said.  
_ "Oh, we can invite all of your 12 brothers!!" Anna continued without restraint, which Elsa had to put a point in order to clarify things.  
_ "No, no, no, no ... wait, slow down!" Elsa immediately interrupted "... No one's brothers are staying here, and no one is getting married!"  
_ "Wait ... what?" said Anna, confused in turn. Elsa then gently took her by the shoulder.  
_ "May I talk to you, please .... alone?" Elsa asked calmly but insistently, a little embarrassed. Anna appeared decided otherwise and retreated to Hans, clinging to his arm.  
_ "No!" said the princess openly, as if to challenge her sister "... Whatever you have to say, you can say to both of us."  
_ "Fine." Elsa sighed, but obviously also decided not to hold her words. "You can't marry a man you just met."  
_ "You can if it's true love!" Anna argued firmly, huddling against Hans. Seeing this reaction, Elsa sighed even more.  
_ "Anna .... what do you know about true love?"  
_ "More than you! All you know is how to shut people out!" Anna added, without restraint, what surprised Elsa, but also hurt her heart. Anna was right in a way, but if Elsa did it, it was for a good reason, as hard as it was.  
_ "You asked for my blessing .... but my answer is no." Elsa replied, hurt by her sister's words, but had to protect her, as she herself, for the good of both. The nervousness gradually seized again the young queen, who had to calm down without attracting attention. "Now if you'll excuse me ....."  
_ "You majesty, if I may ....." Hans started to ask.  
No, you may not, and I think you should go...." Elsa interrupted him immediately and firmly, and began to move away from the couple, before giving a new order to the nearby guards. "The party is over .... close the gates!"  
_ "What?!" Anna gasped on hearing her sister's order, while the guards obeyed. "Elsa! No! Please!" Anna rushed to her sister to try to resonate her, but trying to grab her by the wrist grabbed one of the gloves instead. Elsa gasped in a somewhat exaggerated reaction, seeing one of her "protections" be removed and held by Anna.  
_ "Give me my glove!!" Elsa insisted, in a strange panic that people noticed. Anna, however, did not bend and stepped back with the glove in her hands to force her sister to listen.  
_ "Elsa, please! I can't live like this anymore!!" Anna spoke desperately, distress reading like a book in her eyes. Elsa saw it, and it broke her heart even more ... She wanted to comfort her sister, but again, fear took over .... She felt again, against her neck, this dark aura, this red eyes supernatural looking at her ..... she had to protect her sister, no matter the means ....  
_ "Then leave!" Elsa's answer, as cruel as it was, was deeply saddened. Anna was deeply hurt by these words and seeing her own sister, the only family she had left, turning away from her without looking back.  
_ "What did I ever do to you?!!" Anna creaked, starting to scream and cry after her sister, in front of the crowd that seemed perplexed.  
_ "Enough Anna ...." Elsa mumbled more and more nervously as she walked slowly to the doors to get out of the room, her hands against her body, as if she wanted to hide them from everyone. But Anna was not going to let her go like that and shouted again, only accentuating Elsa's stress.  
_ "No! Why do you shut me out?! Why do you shut the world out?! WHAT ARE YOU SO AFRAID OF?!!"  
_ "I said .... ENOUGH!!!" Elsa lost her composure and, wanting to turn to her sister, made her power unwittingly spring from her hand. A trail of ice exploded from her palm and formed a row of sharp stalagmites, like a real barrier of protective spikes, facing the crowd, the closest of which, including Anna, Hans, the Duke and his bodyguards, had to move back, all being amazed and frightened at the same time by what had just appeared before their eyes. Elsa, she, remained paralyzed in front of what she had done, trembling with intense fear.  
Elsa, huddled against the door, frightened, then saw all the faces and looks terrified and shocked on her, even Anna. Pabbie's vision was unfortunately beginning to come true ....  
_ "Sorcery ..." the duke gasped, stepping back, frightened, behind his bodyguards and staring at Elsa with fear, but also some contempt "... I knew there was something dubious going on here!"  
_ "Elsa ...." Anna sighed in shock.  
Elsa, panicked, opened the door behind her and fled as quickly as possible from the castle to the main courtyard, where another crowd was waiting for her, as they had not witnessed the phenomenon, and welcomed the queen with joy and applause. Panting, encircled by all these people and invaded by fear, Elsa felt trapped, watching them as if they were monsters who came to kill her. A woman carrying a baby in her arms spoke to her.  
_ "Your majesty, Are you alright?" she asked, concerned.  
Elsa did not answer and wanted to move back, but her back gently hit the marble fountain in the center of the courtyard. Instinctively, Elsa put her hand without the glove on the fountain to avoid falling, but the ice power awoke again and completely freeze the fountain in a few seconds, in the eyes of all. Elsa then saw all the people around her move back from her, the surprise and fear on their faces, and some children even crying. Elsa's worst nightmare came alive ... They were watching her as she saw herself: a monster!  
_ "There she is!" exclaimed suddenly a voice. The duke and his two bodyguards had arrived at the gates of the castle. Elsa then saw the duke pointing at her. "Stop her!!"  
_ "Please, stay away from me ...." Elsa begged them, holding out her hands to keep them from coming "... Just stay away ...."  
But an ice blast spurted from her palms in spite of herself, almost as a defense, and hit the entrance of the castle with full force, causing the duke and his guards to fall on the ground and forcing many to step aside.  
_ "Monster ....." the duke grumbled as he picked up his wits and again pointed to her screaming "SHE'S A MONSTER!!"  
Elsa looked at her hand ...... Was that really what she was? A monster? Looking around her and seeing the people around her staring at her with great fear and seeing the children crying, Elsa thought it might be true after all.  
Desperate and feeling more endangered than ever, Elsa fled towards the exit of the courtyard, people moving away in front of her because too scared.  
_ "ELSA!!" Anna came to the ice-covered porch to see her sister running away from the crowd. Without hesitation, Anna ran to catch her, followed by Hans.  
Elsa came out of the castle walls, descending a small staircase, but leading her to the edge of the Fjord. She was trapped, not knowing where to go and knowing that if they caught her, she would be killed for sure. She heard her sister's voice calling her name, and wanted to step back even further.  
When Elsa's foot touched the water, it immediately began to freeze. Seeing this, Elsa saw there a way to escape. Anna and Hans arrived, to see Elsa, running on the water of the Fjord while freezing more and more and moving away gradually.  
_ "Elsa! Stop!" Anna shouted trying to follow her, but stumbled on the ice.  
_ "Anna!" Hans arrived to help the young woman get up. The two of them then saw the queen, farther and farther, continuing to run without turning when she reached the opposite bank of the Fjord and disappeared more and more into the darkness of the night, towards the forest, towards the north. While Anna was desperate, holding the glove of her sister in her hands, Hans suddenly looked stunned looking at something else.  
_ "The Fjord ...." he says. Anna looked in turn. The two of them then saw, with amazement, the whole Fjord being gradually covered by the ice, while a shower of snowflakes began to fall on the kingdom.

*********  
Meanwhile....

With his drooping eyes returning to blue behind his skull helmet, the Lich King slowly removed his hand from the bark of a snow-covered Lordaeron tree in front of which he was standing. He had seen everything that had happened, and despite his impassive face, seemed to show, very weakly, what looked like a smirk on his cold and gray lips behind his helmet ... this young beautiful human woman with blond hair, with this power ... he watched her since she had unwittingly established this link with him during this vision ... he had to find her ...  
He retraced his steps, passing in front of the ranks of undead warriors who were all waiting in silence, and saw their chief return to his horse, and were waiting for his next order.  
The ice creatures then saw a change when strong and icy winds from the south rose, bringing with them a new snow and frost storm, but this time it was not the fault of them.  
_"It started... now, let's find her..." said the Lich King with a dark tone.  
Arthas, king of the dead, then slowly raised his arms, triumphantly, as welcoming this storm as a new friend, while raising his steel and ice sword, the undead warriors around let out loud icy growls that tore the air, while around they, the immense and infinite army resumed its slow but certain march towards the south, in the midst of the blizzard.


	4. The Choice

_ "What is it? Snow?"  
The inhabitants gazed curiously at the rain of snowflakes which was slowly starting to fall on the region. As Queen Elsa had fled and ice gradually covered Arendelle and the fjord, the temperature began to drop abnormally. Anna and Hans had both returned to the castle courtyard, and feeling the cold begin to cover them.  
_ "Are you alright?" Hans asked the princess, seeing her rub her shoulders to warm herself up a bit.  
_"No." she answered sincerely.  
_ "Did you know ... about ...?" the prince then asked, but again Anna answered him no. Anna and Hans walked over to the Duke and his bodyguards. Weselton's little old man was also starting to panic seriously.  
_ "Look! It's snowing!" cried the duke, contemplating with fear the snow falling from the sky "... The queen has cursed this land! She must be stopped! You must go after her!" he started to tell his guards.  
_ "Wait, no!" Anna interposed before such a proposal. The duke then looked at her with great suspicion.  
_ "You! Is there sorcery in you, too? Are you a monster, too?" asked the duke, hiding behind his two guards, who also showed suspicious looks. Anna was outraged at such a suspicion and immediately defended herself.  
_ "No. I am completely ordinary."  
_ "That's right, she is." then affirmed Hans, coming to support the Princess of Arendelle. "In the best way." he added for clarification. Anna smiled at him, silently thanking him for his support.  
_ "My sister is not a monster!" Anna said in defense. But that did not prevent the Duke from insisting on the serious accusation against Queen Elsa.  
_ "She nearly killed me!" shouted the little man from Weselton.  
_ "Come on, you slipped on ice." Hans replied.  
_ "Her ice!" added the duke heavily. Anna had had enough and interrupted their conversation.  
_ "It was an accident. She was scared. She didn't mean it. She didn't mean any of this…"  
The duke huffed, rolling his eyes, not at all convinced by Anna's explanation. But the princess did not care what he thought and continued to speak, and going so far as to denounce what was for her, the real culprit of this catastrophe.  
_ "Tonight was my fault ..." Anna said with conviction, to Hans's surprise "... I pushed her. So I'm the one who needs to go after her ... bring me my horse, please."  
_ "What?" Hans said, astonished, as the Duke seemed to approve of the idea. Anna walked without delay to the servant who brought her a horse saddled and ready to go. Hans, however, ran to the princess to hold her back.  
_ "Anna, no, it's too dangerous."  
_ "Elsa is not dangerous ..." Anna replied, touched by Hans' concern "... i'll bring her back, and I'll make this right ... and you, Prince Hans, must stay here, to take care of Arendelle."  
_ "On my honor, I'll do it." Hans said to her. Anna smiled, trusting him, and mounted her white horse, covering herself in a green winter cloak to protect herself from the cold.  
_ "I leave Prince Hans in charge!" cried the young princess to the inhabitants, as a final order from her. People around were taken aback, but said nothing to contradict this order.  
_ "Are you sure you can trust her?" Hans asked, really worried and not wanting Anna to go alone on this crazy quest.  
_ "She is my sister. She would never hurt me." Anna said to reassure him. Though Hans wasn't convinced, he respected Anna's choice and stepped aside. Slamming the horse's bridle, Anna then set off at a gallop, leaving the courtyard of the castle and beginning her journey to rescue her sister.

***********

Lost in the dark night, under the snowflakes which fell by the thousands, Elsa now wandered alone, devastated, on the rising slope of one of the hills at the foot of the North Mountain.  
Still wearing her queen dress and tiara, Elsa walked slowly through the thick snow, her face sad. She paused for a moment, looking behind her. She felt even more monstrous than before. She had abandoned her family, her sister, her kingdom ... Elsa sniffed softly, shedding a tear that she wiped from her cheek ... after all, it was maybe better this way, for her and for everyone...  
_ "I have no place in this world ..." she sighed sadly, resuming her solitary walk towards the mountains, where she was sure not to harm anyone. Every step she took away from Arendelle was torture to her broken mind, but she continued, persuading herself to make the right choice.  
But as she walked and reached the top of the hill, Elsa gasped in fear, as a rotten arm emerged from the snow right in front of her. Elsa took several steps back, her eyes wide with fear, as a few meters in front of her emerged three men, at least corpses judging by their gray and rotten skin ... their eyes were an unearthly glowing blue. , and they wore armor and helmets of a frozen black steel, very similar to the outfits of Vikings.  
Holding swords and axes in their corpse hands, the three undead uttered inhuman grunts, turning their blue eyes to the frightened young queen. For Elsa, what she saw was simply impossible …  
One of the corpses roared wildly and rushed over to Elsa to grab her.  
_ "No, stay away!" the queen cried fearfully, closing her eyes and wanting to protect herself with her hands. From her palms arose a wave of magical ice that formed a row of sharp stalacmites, which impaled the undead in the belly, stopping him in its course. The dead man, growling, looked briefly at the ice spike piercing his body, feeling no pain, and began to growl and roar again, raising his arm to try to grab Elsa anyway.  
Seeing the other two dead approaching her, Elsa wanted to run in the opposite direction, but stopped as other living corpses in armor, a dozen or so, loomed from the snow all around her, trapping her. The one who had been impaled managed to free himself and joined the others, no drop of blood falling from his wound. Terrified, completely surrounded and unable to react, Elsa watched as these creatures of ice and death approach her. Knowing that they seemed immune to any form of fatal injury, she didn't know what to do. Who knows what they were going to do with her? Elsa closed her eyes, praying that her death would be painless.  
_"Enough!" suddenly cried a powerful, deep and inhuman voice.  
At that moment, the undead stopped and moved away from Elsa, who then saw them take a few steps back and remain completely unmoved.  
Puzzled, Elsa turned her gaze to the direction of the mysterious voice, and what she saw petrified her in amazement and terror.  
At the top of the snowy hill, stood an imposing black horse with blue eyes, cadaverous appearance. On top of him was a man who was also very tall and strong, covered in intimidating full armor, a large black cloak floating behind him and a creepy, horned helmet hiding his face. Elsa immediately felt the aura of power emanating from him, and felt overwhelmed by his mere presence. She didn't dare look at his eyes, blue and shining, showing a very great and frightening strength.  
_ "Who ... who are you?" Elsa asked shakily. The armored man was silent at first, looking the young queen up and down, then stepped into the snow and stomped towards her. Elsa didn't dare move, seeing this creepy stranger, who towered over her by more than two heads, come and stand right in front of her.  
_ "My ancient name was Arthas Menethil, but today I am known and feared as the Lich King."  
Elsa gasped, unable to believe what he had just said. The ... The Lich King, like the one the legends talked about? The legendary king of the dead and ice?  
To Elsa, it seemed impossible that this was true, but with what she saw around her, the line between myth and reality seemed to no longer make sense.  
The young queen, more than intimidated, then seemed to resign herself, tilting her head and closing her eyes.  
_ "In that case, I accept this fatality that is mine. What are you going to do with me, king of the dead? Take my soul and condemn it to hell for the monster that I am?"  
The Lich King listened, showing no reaction, initially silent for the first few seconds.  
_ "I don't mean to do anything to you." he replied simply in his calm, dark voice. Elsa was taken aback, looking up at him. She then saw the king take her thin hand in his, looking at her with a certain interest.  
_ "This power which is yours ..." said the Lich King "... it would be more than a shame to see it disappear."  
Elsa didn't know what to do, and let her hand be held by the mighty armored hand of the King of the Dead. She could feel the morbid cold that he emanated from him, and she felt a shiver of deep anguish. She then dared to look him straight in the eye, remaining frozen looking at these two small cold blue flames which served as eyes under his monstrous helmet.  
_ "This power ..." Elsa sighed sadly, gently removing her hand from Arthas' and began to slowly move away from him, hiding her hands "... this power is a curse ... because of it, I have only caused harm to my family and my kingdom ..."  
_ "What if I told you that there is a way for you to control this power, and that I can help you?" The Lich King then said, to which Elsa stopped in her walk, listening to what he had to say.  
_"What do you mean?" she asked.  
_ "This power is a curse because you are convinced that it is and you let it dominate you ... your parents wanted you to hide this magic, but it was a terrible mistake ... on the contrary, it's up to you to release this unique potential that you inherited ... forget ordinary humans, they will never understand beings like us ... only I can understand you, and accept you as you are, Elsa…"  
How could he know about her parents? And her name, how had he guessed it? Was he able to read people's minds? Elsa wondered, but thought back to what he was saying, having to admit that he wasn't entirely wrong about ordinary people. She turned to Arthas, looking at him again.  
_ "You ... you ask me ... to come with you?" she asked timidly.  
_ "It's up to you to decide ..." replied the Lich King darkly. "if you wish to leave, I won't stop you, but in this case, you will know, just as I once did, what eternal solitude is ... this world was not made for beings such as us. So it's up to us to find our place there."  
With these words, the Lich King turned around and climbed back on his monstrous zombie horse, and began to walk away towards the great mountains, accompanied by his undead warriors.  
Elsa remained motionless for a moment, Arthas' last sentence echoing in her mind.  
After hesitating for long seconds, the young fallen queen made her decision. She took her tiara, looking at it one last time, then dropped it in the snow. She took off her cloak and let it fly in the north wind. Freed from these royal symbols, she left in silence, walking to follow and join the Lich King and his creatures in the mountain.


	5. The Fortress

_ "Elsa! ... Elsa, where are you? Answer me! It's me, Anna!"  
The young Princess of Arendelle, seated on her horse, had now been searching tirelessly for several hours, climbing up a snow-covered slope. The night was already very late, and the cold only intensified with each passing minute and Anna could feel it despite the thick cloak she was wearing to protect herself.  
Everything around her was covered in white and plunged into absolute silence.  
_ "Elsa, please ... show yourself! ..." Anna insisted, looking closely around her. "I know it's my fault ... but at the same time, we wouldn't be here if she told me her secret ... ah, what a prankster …"  
Suddenly, a large pine cracked and fell heavily to the ground from the weight of the snow covering it. The noise and the shock frightened Anna's horse, which reared up and made its rider fall into the snow. Anna, stunned and emerging from the powdery blanket of snow, gasped as she saw her horse set off at a triple gallop, abandoning it to its fate.  
_"No! no!" Anna gasped, trying to catch up to him, but to no avail. Now alone, on foot and lost in the middle of this silent and dark snowy forest, the princess shivers with anguish.  
In the next hour, Anna had no choice but to walk through the thick snow, which proved to be a very painful ordeal given the thickness of the layer.  
_ "Snow ..." Anna sighed, annoyed, the snow covering her up to above her knees. "Why snow? Why couldn't it cover Arendelle with warm white sand?"  
Arriving at the top of a hill, Anna then saw black smoke rising from a thicket of snow-capped pines not far away. Hoping to find help again, Anna then felt the ground under her feet crack, and she rolled down the hill, ending her legs and pelvis soaking in a small stream. Feeling the extreme cold, Anna winced. Getting up, she felt her dress harden and freeze in seconds, crippling her even more in her walk. But the cold was invading her more and more, now that she had lost her cloak during the fall.  
_ "Cold ... cold ... cold ..." Anna moaned in her trembling voice as she walked as fast as possible towards the source of the smoke.  
Gradually feeling her whole body frozen, Anna managed to reach the source of the smoke anyway, noticing that it was a small wooden building with a smoking chimney. Good news, it meant someone was there. The princess's gaze was caught by the small wooden panel which hung by chains at the entrance. She brushed the snow off it to read what's on it.  
_ "Wandering Oaken's trading post... oh, and sauna." she readed.   
Feeling the freezing wind intensifying, Anna pushed open the door and entered, already feeling the good warmth surrounding her. Suddenly, a small voice called out to her as she stepped forward. Turning her head, she saw a man with broad shoulders and appearing short, sitting behind the counter. The man was smiling, with a big nose, mustache and red sideburns and was dressed in a bib jumper and hat.  
_ "Big summer blowout." he said with a smile "half off swimming suits, clogs and a sun balm of my own invention, ya?"  
Anna stared at him in bewilderment, wondering if he was really serious or if he was laughing at her.  
_ "Oh great ..." Anna replied to be polite "But, for now, how about winter boots and dresses?"  
_ "That would be in our winter department." the seller Oaken indicated, pointing to a corner in the shop. A corner that had obviously been looted by customers, judging by the number of items almost non-existent.  
_ "Oh, um … okay." said Anna, a little baffled but decided to take what was left. But as she took the last winter items present, Anna saw the toilet door open at the back of the store, and someone come out. She was more than surprised by the stranger's appearance. He was small in stature, but very stocky. He wore full and impressive-looking armor made of steel and gold, a horned helmet, and carried two weapons, a hammer and a double ax on his back. But the most disconcerting was his beard more than imposing, reaching almost to his feet and of a bronze color. He had a weathered face, a thick nose and a hard look.  
_ "Ah, damn it feels good ... I couldn't take it anymore ..." said the stocky warrior without restraint. "Hey, Oaken, I think you're going to have to buy some toilets because with what I put in ... hahaha!"  
_ "Uh, Muradin, could you just don't when I have clients please?" Oaken warned, pointing to Anna. The guy named Muradin then seemed to notice the young princess, looking her up and down.  
_ "Oh, good evening ma'am." he said, greeting her respectfully before walking away towards one of the shelves and looking at the items. Anna greeted him as well, keeping herself from wincing at the smell that had come out of the toilet. She preferred to refocus on the question she then wanted to ask the merchant.  
_"I was just wondering ... has another young woman ... the Queen perhaps, I don't know, passed through here?"  
The question challenged Muradin a little, who turned around, finding it strange, but quickly refocused on the articles.  
_ "Only went crazy enough to be out in this storm are you and Muradin, dear ..." Oaken said with ease. The front door opened sharply, attracting everyone's attention. A new customer had just entered. A warmly dressed man, his face protected by a scarf and covered from head to toe in the snow which he tried to remove with annoyance.  
_ "And this fellow ..." Oaken corrected, "Fix, I'm a blowout." he said, trying to get the new customer's attention to the sunscreen on sale. The man walked over to the counter, facing Anna who didn't quite know how to react. A somewhat awkward silence settled down.  
_ "Carrots ... behind you." said the man in a deceptively calm voice.  
_ "Oh right ... excuse me ..." Anna said with an embarrassed smile and pulled away. The man picked up the carrots, setting them on the counter, and walked to the rows to buy more items. Muradin gave him a quick glance, but without more interest.  
_ "Whoa ... I wonder where all this snow comes from ..." Oaken said as if trying to chase away the embarrassment that had settled in. The new client, obviously a mountaineer, took a climbing rope and an ice ax.  
_ "The North Mountain." he said walking back to the counter. At these words, Muradin, without turning around and without the others noticing, then gently raised his head, his gaze darkening a little. The mention of this mountain then plunged Anna into her thoughts as the man put down his items to purchase them.  
_ "40." Oaken said for the price, which confused the customer.  
_ "40? No, no, no, 10." tried to haggle the customer. Oaken then explained to him that with the incessant demands on the winter stock, the price had doubled. The customer replied as he made a living selling blocks of ice on a sleigh, which Anna saw through the window outside. A bargaining battle was taking place between the two men, to which Muradin gave a mocking smile. Anna then ended the discussion by asking the customer a question.  
_ "By the way, just tell me one thing. What was happening on the North Mountain? Did it seem magical?"  
_ "Yes." answered the young man, taking off his scarf and obviously very annoyed by Anna's question. "Now back up, while I deal with this crook here."  
At this word, the salesman Oaken stood behind his counter, showing that he was of a very imposing size, even gigantic, making the customer swallow with concern.  
_ "How did you call me?" Oaken asked, hurt in his vendor pride.  
The result was final. Anna and Muradin saw Oaken grab the young man and forcefully throw him into the snow outside, and came back inside while politely saying goodbye to whoever had just called him a crook. Oaken then came and sat down behind the counter, apologizing for all the violence and resumed her business with Anna and the items she wanted to buy. However, the princess thought back to this young mountain man and his sleigh, thinking to herself that he might be of assistance in her search for her sister. She couldn't leave on foot, it was too risky. Further in the shop, Muradin, discreetly, had glanced at Anna. The mention of magic had titillated his senses and plunged him back into certain memories ... painful memories ...

**********

Elsa hadn't said a word for several hours. Besides, she hardly dared really speak in the presence of all these intimidating creatures around her. These blue-eyed, armored undead walked in silence as well, like an escort of guards. They didn't seem to suffer from the cold at all. In the midst of this group of soldiers was the Lich King, riding his towering undead horse and marching through the snow amid a blizzard that had just lifted. Sitting behind the Lich King and shyly holding herself against him so as not to fall, Elsa remained thoughtful, sad and silent. Despite her fear of her powers and her desire to be alone, she had chosen to follow the Lich King, the latter having managed to convince her with his words. She still couldn't believe he was really there, right in front of her and touching him. He who by his simple legend frightened so many people. She was afraid of him, but yet she didn't feel threatened. At no time had he been threatening to her.   
Soon the snow gave way to a harder surface. The group were now walking on the ice of a huge frozen lake lost in the midst of snow-capped mountains.   
Then, through the blinding blizzard, Elsa glanced up. Little by little she thought she could make out a huge structure looming through the night. Once closer, the young queen in exile opened wide astonished eyes.  
Built within the very rock of a mountain, stood a gigantic fortress with a very intimidating appearance. Its walls and towers were several tens of meters high, and seemed to be built of ice and some kind of ebony stone with an almost metallic appearance. The heights of the walls were dotted with sharp spikes and the tops of the towers made them look like threatening pitchforks.  
Dull noises of mechanisms were heard and an imposing drawbridge began to descend. Above the main entrance was a large terrifying statue of a flaming-eyed skull, enough to intimidate any intruders who would enter. Elsa swallowed, almost feeling like this giant skull was looking her straight in the eye.   
An aura of the heaviest and darkest hung over this place, she could feel it clearly. She dared not ask what this nightmare place was, fearing to appear rude to the Lich King.  
The latter stopped his horse just in front of the drawbridge, letting one of his living dead hold it. The Lich King get off his horse and then turned to Elsa, reaching out his armored hand to help her down. A little surprised to see this gallant gesture from a monster like him, Elsa accepted out of politeness, and put her hand in his. She then felt the Lich King's other hand gently grab her by the waist and lift her off the horse. Taken by surprise, Elsa gave a small gasp of fear, resting her hands on the Lich King's shoulder armors, as if to hold herself. She found herself pressed against him, her face very close to his helmet.   
Eye to eye, the king and queen looked at each other, for a few seconds that seemed like an eternity. Elsa could almost see her face reflected in the monstrous king's blazing blue eyes. She also felt his large, icy hand still hold her by the waist, as if to keep her from falling. Elsa blushed softly, very embarrassed.  
_ "I ... excuse me ..." she said, expecting the worst.  
However, the Lich King didn't show any expression of anger, saying nothing and just put her on her feet, on the ground. Around her, the undead warriors had not reacted, watching in silence as if awaiting the next order. Then, as if receiving the thoughts of their king, the warriors set out on several sides.  
_"Come with me." then said the Lich King in his dark voice, addressing Elsa. He began to walk without looking back, crossing the drawbridge to enter the fortress. Not wanting to stay out in this blizzard with all those undead staring at her, Elsa chose to obey and followed him with a little hurry to catch up with him.  
While walking and following the king, Elsa couldn't contain her curiosity and looked around with a mixture of fascination and fear. The courtyard of the fortress was made entirely of this black stone and covered with snow and ice. Large statues of roaring dragons stood on some walls. A frozen fountain also stood in the center of the courtyard. Several undead guards patrolled the walls or the courtyard, all turning their glowing gazes through the night to Elsa. The young queen did not dare to look at them. A priori she had nothing to fear from them as long as the Lich King did not give them orders. And obviously he didn't seem to want to see her dead, or she already would be.  
_ "What ... what is this place?" at last she dared to ask while walking behind the king.  
_ "Formerly a prison for the living, when the kingdom of Lordaeron still existed ... but now, it is only an isolated refuge for the beings that existence has rejected, like you and me ..." the king explained without turning around and continuing to walk towards the main tower, in the center of the fortress.  
Lordaeron? Elsa had heard about it a few times, from her father when he told certain legends and tales to her and Anna. According to history, centuries before Arendelle was founded, there was another equally powerful and prosperous kingdom called Lordaeron. But overnight, the entire kingdom vanished and no one knew what happened to it and all the people who lived in. Millions of people disappearing in a single night… Elsa had chills of anguish just thinking about it.  
After both entering the main tower, the Lich King and Elsa ascended an endless spiral stone staircase illuminated by several torches which magically lit up as the king passed.  
At the top of the tower was a massive carved wooden door, which the Lich King then creaked open and pulled aside, inviting Elsa to enter. The young queen was very hesitant. She could have chosen to change her mind and run up the stairs. But to go or then? To get lost in the middle of nowhere and be chased by hordes of living dead?  
_ "Like I told you before, you can stay or go, I won't stop you ... it's up to you to make your own choices." the Lich King said then, which surprised her on the moment. Now she was sure he was able to read minds.  
Hesitantly stepping forward and through the door, Elsa was now in a large room, a little spooky but nevertheless with a stone fireplace in a corner and a large bed of noble craftsmanship, although it looks a little dusty. Elsa looked around the room as a whole, while the Lich King remained in the doorway, watching her do nothing.  
_ "The road has been long ... you can sleep here tonight ... regain your strength and take the time to think about my proposal ... tomorrow, you will give me your answer."  
Elsa didn't dare say anything but nodded shyly. The Lich King whirled around, exiting the room and closing the door behind him, without locking it. Now alone in this dismal room, Elsa went to sit on the big bed. Looking at the room, she thought to herself ... who knows, this refuge lost in the mountains was perhaps there where was its true place finally ... the place for the monster that she was ... the night would bring advice in effect. Laying down on the bed, however, she wondered how she would manage to get to sleep.


	6. The Chase

After shopping in Oaken's store, Anna had thought about her situation. On foot and without equipment, she could never cross the heights of North Mountain. So she decided to hire a professional, and knew where to find it. The young princess walked towards a wooden building at the back of the shop, which was surely acting as a reserve. As she approached, Anna could hear the calm, melodic sounds of a lute. She listened, hearing this man, Kristoff, singing that reindeer are better than people. She was a little surprised when she heard as if he was imitating another voice, as if someone was answering him. She made the decision to enter.  
_ "Nice duet." she commented, pushing aside the wooden door. Kristoff and Sven, about to fall asleep, jumped up in surprise.  
_ "Oh, it's you ... what do you want?" Kristoff asked, still unwilling to be friendly. Anna preferred to ignore his complete lack of politeness and focused on the main topic.  
_ "Um ... I want you to take me up to the North Mountain." she demanded bluntly, but not very confidently. Kristoff stared at her like she was crazy.  
_ "I don't take people places." was his answer as he lay limply on the pile of straw, covering his head with his cap. Faced with this refusal, Anna did not allow herself to be so easily.  
_ "Let me rephrase that." and with these words, the princess awkwardly threw a bag over Kristoff's stomach, who gasped. Anna again ordered him to take her to the mountain, to which Kristoff could see that the bag contained all the necessary equipment for a climb.  
_ "Look, I know how to stop this winter." Anna said, hoping this time to convince him for good. Although he didn't seem very happy with the idea, Kristoff sighed and seeing that she had bought the equipment he wanted for him, decided to pay this debt and agreed.  
_ "We'll be leaving tomorrow at dawn ... and you forgot the carrots for Sven."  
Again, Kristoff received a bag, on the face this time. This new bag contained carrots, which made the reindeer eyes glow with lust.  
_ "Sorry ..." said Anna "... Um, I mean, we're leaving now."  
_ "In that case, allow me to come too." Then came a loud voice just behind Anna, which made her jump in surprise. She immediately recognized the stocky warrior with the thick beard who was in the shop.  
_"And you're?" Anna asked, quite intimidated by the massive weapons the dwarf warrior carried on her back.  
_ "Muradin Bronzebeard, at your service, my little lady." replied the dwarf with a proud smile. Kristoff and Sven stared at him with some suspicion. Anna was also on her guard, but at the same time, looked fascinated by the stoutness of the armor and weapons this stranger was carrying. How did he manage not to be crushed by all this weight?  
_ "And ... why do you want to go to the North Mountain too?" Kristoff asked.  
_ "You have your reasons, I have mine ..." replied Muradin clearly "... listen, I don't know what triggered this winter, or how you plan to stop it ... But I can assure one thing: without me, you will never reach this mountain... alive."  
His decision not to say anything about his motives made him even more suspicious, but yet his words sounded sincere. Anna could see it in his more serious eyes and her voice that had grown much darker and less confident. He knew about something in that mountain ... something dangerous, far more than Elsa's power ...  
_ "Muradin, isn't it?" Anna said as she approached the dwarf. "Any help is good to take, but you have to promise me one thing: that you will never hurt my sister."  
Muradin raised an eyebrow, wondering why she was asking him that.  
_ "I told you ... I don't care what motivates you to go to this mountain ... there is only one target that interests me, and it is surely not your sister."

A little later, in the dark night and in the middle of the snow-covered pine forest, Sven was galloping as fast as possible, pulling behind him the sled in which the trio were in. Kristoff held the bridle, driving his sled with perfect control. Anna was sitting next to him in the front and Muradin was sitting behind. The dwarf remained silent, his hands within reach of his weapons and constantly on his guard, looking around as if to watch the forest.  
_ "So tell me ... what made the queen go all ice-crazy?" Kristoff asked, breaking the silence that had been in place for several minutes.  
_ "Oh, uh ... well, it was all my fault ..." Anna replied, a little ashamed. "I got engaged, but then she freaked out because I'd only just met him, you know, that day, and she said she would'nt bless the marriage and..."  
Kristoff seemed puzzled at the young woman's explanations. Muradin, having listened vaguely, gently shook his head, sighing under his breath.  
_ "Wait ... you got engaged to someone you just met that day?" Kristoff asked, unable to believe what he had just heard.   
Anna and Kristoff started an increasingly heated argument, the young man pointing out to the princess that she should learn to be more wary of strangers, but Anna seemed to want absolutely to defend this prince named Hans whom she had fallen in love with. Sitting in the back of the sleigh, Muradin listened to the duo arguing almost like an old couple, and it made him roll his eyes. Ah humans, he thought ...  
Suddenly the dwarf changed his attitude, seeming to have heard something in the forest. Sven the reindeer seemed to have sensed it too, having slowed down and looking around worriedly.  
_"What is happening?" Anna asked, but Kristoff motioned for her to be silent and with his lantern, lit up the night to try and see something. In the sleigh, Muradin grasped his hammer and ax firmly, his gaze darkening. A familiar shiver ran through his back.  
_ "We have to go, now ..." the dwarf muttered under his breath, his gaze turning to behind the sled. Kristoff looked back, lighting up with the lantern. About twenty meters behind the sled, a dozen quadrupedal figures gradually emerged from the darkness, walking between the trees and approaching. Their blue eyes gleamed in the night and beastly growls were heard.  
_ "Sven, go!" Kristoff yelled immediately, to which, the reindeer obeyed and began to gallop as fast as possible. Anna and Muradin clung together so as not to fall. Immediately, the blue-eyed creatures roared in unison and set off in pursuit of their fleeing prey.  
_"What is that?" Anna asked in panic.  
_"Wolves!" Kristoff replied. But Muradin was not so convinced.  
_ "They are not simple wolves ..." said the dwarf, standing at the back of the sled and taking his weapons, ready for battle, to the great amazement of the duo.  
With abnormal speed, the predatory creatures approached from both sides, gradually encircling the fleeing sled. Seeing them appear in the lantern light, Anna and Kristoff were horrified by what they saw. These wolves, with white furs and eyes like blue flames, had bloody and decayed bodies. Some of them didn't even have any flesh on their heads, their skulls completely bare. One of the wolves had its body completely open, showing its ribs and rotten organs inside.  
_"Oh my god!" yelled Anna in horror. A wolf roars and leaps powerfully towards the sled, its jaw ready to bite anything that comes within its reach. Muradin let out a war cry and hit the creature with his hammer, exploding the skull in pieces and pushing back the body which fell heavily in the snow. However, another wolf had also jumped up and managed to reach the dwarf. Unarmed and blocked, Muradin struggled fiercely against the wolf in the back of the sled, blocking its jaws with one arm to prevent it from biting and punching it hard with the other hand to try to push it back.  
Seeing the dwarf in difficulty and Kristoff absolutely having to hold the bridle to control the sled, Anna decided to act. Noticing Muradin's war hammer nearby, she tried to lift it, but couldn't. The weapon was far too massive. Anna then took Kristoff's lute and smacked the undead wolf's back with all her might. The lute shattered into pieces and the creature seemed to have felt nothing at all. However, the blow received caught the attention of the wolf, who growled in fury, turned his monstrous gaze to Anna, who found herself frozen with fear at the sight of this unreal thing. Muradin took the opportunity to grab his ax and ended the beast with a violent blow to the skull.  
Meanwhile, Kristoff noticed another problem further away: the edge of a cliff. The young man then made a decision. Grabbing Anna, he threw her on Sven's back without her having time to understand. Guessing what Kristoff was planning to do, Muradin also leapt onto the reindeer's back.  
_ "Sven, jump!" Kristoff ordered while cutting the links of the team, allowing the reindeer to free itself and to accelerate its course. The wolves, on the other hand, had come even closer and several of them had leaped onto the back of the sled, trying to hang on and reach the last prey still on it.  
Arriving at the edge of the cliff, Sven leaps with agility and strength, easily managing to reach the other side with Anna and Muradin on his back. Kristoff used the sled as a springboard and jumped as far as he could, barely making it to the edge. the sleigh fell like a stone into the void, with the three wolves that had remained clinging to it. Stuck on the other side of the void, the remaining wolves ceased their pursuit, growling furiously at the prey that had escaped them.  
Muradin and Anna immediately came to help Kristoff up and dragged him several yards in the snow, far from the edge. Both panting, Anna and Kristoff remained silent, failing to realize what had just happened. Muradin, on his side, remained unusually calm in the face of this situation and looked towards these undead wolves with a certain bitterness.  
_ "What ... what were these things?" Kristoff asked, trying to catch his breath and calm.  
"I don't know ..." Anna told him, who then turned her attention to the dwarf who had remained silent on the subject. "But you, Muradin ... your way of fighting and looking at these things ... you know what it is, am I wrong?"  
Muradin turned to her, and judging by his closed expression, she concluded that she was right. The dwarf walked over to the princess and stopped right in front of her. He almost looked like he was going to hit her, but she did everything she could not to show fear.  
_ "I told you earlier ... without me, you will not survive ... your sister may have triggered this eternal winter, but I can swear to you that in this mountain, there is a power far more terrifying and dangerous than hers ... "  
With those last words, he returned his gaze to the undead wolves on the other side. Anna and Kristoff, afraid to guess what power it was, could not conceive of such a thing.  
_ "And I intend to put an end to it, once and for all." added the dwarf with more than palpable determination. 

********** 

During this time, in the city of Arendelle, the situation became more and more worrying. The streets, the houses, the castle ... everything was absolutely covered in snow, and the temperature kept dropping to levels never felt before. All the inhabitants were trying to find solutions, some gathering immense reserves of wood to be able to heat themselves. Having been left at the head of the kingdom in the absence of the queen and the princess, Prince Hans took his charge to heart and accompanied by several guards, distributed warm blankets to the inhabitants in need.  
_ "Arendelle is indebted to you, your highness." said a woman thanking the prince for his kindness.  
_ "The castle is open ..." then shouted Hans to the attention of the inhabitants "... There is soup and hot glogg in the great hall ... guards, continue the distribution of blankets."  
_ "Prince Hans!" then shouted an unpleasant voice against him. The Duke of Weselton, rubbing his shoulders in an attempt to warm himself, and still escorted by his two unfriendly-faced bodyguards, approached Hans.  
_ "Are we expected to just sit here and freeze while you give away all of Arendelle's tradable goods?"  
_ "Princess Anna has given her orders ..." Hans wanted to answer, but was again interrupted by the nervous little old man.  
_ "And that's another thing!" replied the duke without shyness "Has it dawned on you that your princess may be conspiring with a wicked sorceress to destroy us all? »  
_ "Do not question the princess!" Hans replied firmly to the duke, looking at him with a defiant gaze. "She left me in charge, and I will not hesitate to protect Arendelle from treason!"  
_ "T ... Treason?" the duke gasped, feeling himself personally targeted by Hans's gaze. Behind the old man, the two bodyguards frowned, standing as if ready to intervene in defense of their boss. Suddenly, the approaching neigh of a horse brought them out of their discussion and caught everyone's attention. A horse that everyone recognized then entered in panic at a gallop in the middle of the square. Hans rushed forward, grabbing the bridle and managing to calm the animal. The inhabitants approached, all looking horrified.  
_ "It's the princess's horse!"  
_"But where is she?"  
Hans, while stroking the horse's muzzle to calm it, then turned his worried gaze in the direction of the mountain to which Anna had gone. The prince of the islands then made a decision.  
_ "Princess Anna is in trouble! I need volunteers to go with me to find her."  
Faced with the prince's request, several of Arendelle's guards, the bravest, did not hesitate and came forward, proclaiming their desire to go with him to the aid of the princess.  
_ "I volunteer two men, my lord!" announced the duke showing himself in good faith and pointing to his two bodyguards. Hans nodded thanked him and turned to the guards to begin preparations for the expedition. But secretly, the duke addressed his two men.  
_ "Be prepared for anything, and should you encounter the queen, you are to put an end to this winter."


	7. Frozen Lords

Elsa painfully opened her eyes and moaned softly as she woke up from her sleep ... with everything she had been through, she didn't think she could sleep, and although she had only slept a few hours, she did. had done ... still dressed in her ceremonial dress, she rose in silence from the bed that was granted to her for the night, in this dismal room located at the top of this tower ... Elsa walked towards the small mirror halfway broken hanging on a wall, and stared there at her reflection distorted by the cracks in the glass ... she wanted to look away, feeling almost ashamed to see herself as the monster she thought she was ...  
She didn't know what time it might be, but today she would have to give her answer to the Lich King. She had thought for a long time during the night before falling asleep. She hadn't really decided what to do yet.  
Surprised not to see her host coming to pick her up, Elsa decided to risk going out. Opening the wooden door which creaked loudly, the young woman was puzzled not to see any guard posted in front of her bedroom door. The Lich King was telling the truth, she could have left when she wanted without him holding her back. Why give him so much freedom?  
While asking herself these unanswered questions, Elsa descended the stairs of the tower and ended up exiting into the main courtyard of this monstrous fortress of ice. Although it was supposed to be morning, night still reigned. Like yesterday, the sky was still covered with this sea of black clouds which seemed not to move.  
Elsa jumped in surprise and fear at the sight of a few of those blue eyed undead warriors patrolling the yard, and giving her curious glances. Obviously, she couldn't get used to their monstrous appearance. But luckily, they seemed to have been ordered not to hurt her and let her go where she sees fit.  
An armored undead holding a frosted sword in its hand stepped up to her, making her take a step back, intimidated. The monster remained silent and his rotten, frozen finger pointed in the direction leading out of the fortress. Guessing that he wanted her to head that way, Elsa decided not to challenge these creatures and began to walk without abrupt movements. As she walked out of the fortress, she would occasionally glance behind him, as if to make sure none of those monsters were attacking her from behind.  
Now outside the fortress walls, Elsa could choose to run away as far as possible, but oddly, she didn't want to. She continued to walk in the direction the guard had indicated to her.  
After several minutes of walking on the huge frozen lake stretching in front of the fortress, Elsa then saw the imposing and solitary form of the Lich King. Still locked in his intimidating armor, his head covered with his helmet, his black cape floatting in the wind, he seemed to be waiting, gazing up to the sky and letting a few snowflakes fall into the palm of his hand. Standing a hundred yards from him, Elsa paused a moment to observe him. She felt her heart beat, both with fear, but also ... without knowing why, she was afraid of him, but also saw in him a certain majesty, an imposing and fascinating force. Elsa couldn't describe how she felt.  
_ "I hope you slept well ..." said the dark voice of the Lich King then. Elsa was surprised to see that he had noticed her presence when he wasn't even looking at her.  
_ "I ... um ... I ... thank you for ... your hospitality ..." replied the young queen a little embarrassed while approaching him, but preferring to keep a certain distance between them. The Lich King didn't respond back, except a sound of deep breathing.  
Dropping the snowflakes he held in his palm, the monstrous king turned to Elsa, resting his inhuman blue eyes on her. Immediately Elsa felt that dark aura again crush her and seemed to probe her soul.  
_ "Have you thought about my proposal? What is your choice?" the Lich King asked calmly. Elsa didn't know what to say immediately. She hesitated, and also feared the king's reaction to a possible refusal. But on the other hand, she wanted so badly to be able to understand what was happening to her. Why did she have such power?  
_ "You told me that I had to accept this power, that it was part of me ... could you help me control it?"  
The Lich King looked at her for a moment before answering, and moved closer to her. Elsa, dominated by the size of the king, looked up and blushed softly in intimidation.  
_ "It's up to you to control it, Elsa ..." replied the Lich King "... by letting fear and doubt dominate you, you let your power control you. But it is in accepting it that you will assert yourself as the true master ... forget the fear ... forget the pain ... accept your true nature ... as I once did."  
With his frozen, gloved hand, he gently took Elsa's, then guiding her a few steps forward, as if urging her to move forward.  
_ "Just let it go." he added.  
Elsa had listened, looking straight ahead, on this great frozen lake lost in the middle of these mountains. Standing a few feet behind her, the Lich King watched silently to see what she was about to do. In turn, Elsa watched those snowflakes, emanating from that winter that she herself had brought about, falling gently into her hands and melting on her skin.  
The icy north wind picked up again, fluttering her hair in the air and caressing her face.  
_ "Let ... it ... go ..." she whispered, closing her eyes, repeating the king's words. Elsa began to walk slowly straight ahead on the ice, still followed and watched by the Lich King who kept a good distance to let her go.  
_ "A kingdom of isolation ... and it looks like I'm the queen ..." Elsa sighed, as if finally accepting a long forgotten evidence and feeling like an immense weight fly off her body. "Don't let them in ... don't let them see ... be the good girl you always have to be ... conceal, don't feel ... don't let them know ... well , now they know ... "  
Elsa spoke her words with more and more conviction. The Lich King watched and listened to her, and almost seemed to show the semblance of a wedge of a smile on his gray lips.  
_ "Yes ..." he said "... don't hold it back anymore ... just don't care of what they're going to say."  
Elsa, finally managing to regain her smile and self-confidence, willingly let her magic express itself with her hands. For once, she could feel it ... she was finally in control! With a wave of her hand, she magically assembled a pile of snow, forming a little snowman, like the one she once build with her sister.   
Immediately, the young queen began to move forward, letting her ice magic express itself and with large hand gestures, summoned projections of ice leaving traces in the snow. Smiling to see that she was finally in control of who she really was, Elsa began to move further away from the frozen lake, heading for the snow-capped hills. The Lich King followed her while remaining at a distance, contemplating the awakening of this power.  
Elsa walked, invaded by a new energy that made her feel like she could do absolutely anything. Approaching the edge of a precipice separating two cliffs, Elsa stamped her foot on the ground, summoning a snow bridge that formed over the void, now connecting the two sides.  
_ "Let's see what I can do ..." Elsa sighed with joy. She began to run across the bridge, spreading her hands and crystallizing the bridge as she ran over it. Left behind, the Lich King had missed nothing, and approaching the bridge, placed his hand on the crystalline ice which constituted the bridge. He could feel all the magic, all the power that was exuding from it. But looking towards Elsa, he guessed that she was far from having expressed her full potential.  
_ "Let's the storm rage on ..." Elsa expressed with unfailing conviction once on the other side of the bridge. Concentrating her power even more, allowing herself to be overcome by the power, she raised her arms. The ground began to shake and the Lich King, with some fascination, could literally see a foundation of ice coming out of the ground, under Elsa, lifting her into the air. The structure was getting bigger and bigger, forming with walls, towers, stairs, all in ice ... still in the middle of this huge foundation of ice, Elsa continued to generate her power, gradually ending her ultimate construction ... a real ice castle.  
After crossing the ice bridge, the Lich King looked up at this great castle made of ice and remained silent. His smile widened a little, and his blue flaming eyes lit up more. The silence had fallen and lasted a few moments. Then he saw the castle gates open, and someone come out.  
It was Elsa ... but she had changed ... her blonde hair tied back in a ponytail ... she had ditched her ceremonial dress, now sporting an elegant and flowing dress of a crystalline blue and sparkling like ice, with bare shoulders and dragging behind her a veil of transparent fabric ... the Lich King watched her descend the steps, without looking away from her ...  
Elsa walked up to him, and for the first time, without showing hesitation or fear ... on the contrary, she smiled softly at him. Still able to look into her soul thanks to his nature, the Lich King felt that Elsa no longer sought to hide. She had unleashed that power she feared so much and accepted who she was, like him once.  
_ "You see ..." said the Lich King "... you alone are master of your true nature. And that, humans will never be able to accept it... they are too blinded by their desire for judgment towards the things they fear and cannot control."  
Elsa saw this as one of the most pessimistic and gloomy thoughts, but on the other hand, she herself had witnessed this fear and judgment in the eyes of others. She had even seen hatred in some of them. The young woman looked at her slender palms.  
_ "You've already experienced it, haven't you?" Elsa said, looking up at the king.  
_ "You already know the answer ..." was his most macabre answer as he gazed out over the valley and the frozen lake from the top of the cliff. "I was even ready to sacrifice my humanity to power, if it would save my people ... but instead of a savior, they saw in me only a demon ... they never could understand my sacrifice …"  
Elsa listened to him, and was really sorry for him. A human who had chosen to sacrifice all he was to save his own, and who was seen as the threat he himself was fighting. Fate could sometimes prove to be the cruelest. The Lich King turned again and came back to her.  
_ "This world was never made for exceptional beings like us."  
_ "But, in this case ... what to we do?" asked the fallen young queen.  
The Lich King then gently extended his hand to her, inviting her to follow him.  
_ "If this world cannot accept us, then it is up to us to build ours ... and by associating your power with mine, it is now possible." he said with strong determination in his dark voice.  
Elsa and the king looked each other in the eyes for a moment. She guessed all this will which animated him. An almost frightening will. Building a new world? Was it really possible? A world where she would no longer have to hide, to live as she is? It seemed like a dream too good to be true ... but come to think of it, after all, why not ...  
Having made her choice now, Elsa put her hand on that of the Lich King, showing him her answer. Under his helmet, the king of the dead smiles softly.  
_ "Come ... we have a lot to do ..." said the king taking Elsa with him, back to the frozen lake and the fortress.

The duo walked for several minutes down the hills to return again to the icy surface of the lake. The king led Elsa to the center and stopped there. Kneeling on the ground, the Lich King carefully brushed aside the snow that covered the ice, seeing its reflection in the crystalline translucent surface. Standing behind, Elsa watched him do it, curious.  
_"What are you doing?" she asked. However, he did not answer. Straightening up, the Lich King brought his hand to his belt, slowly unsheathing his sword which he revealed to the sight of the young woman. Elsa was both stunned and terrified by the appearance of the weapon. A sharp blade, silvery and imposing, pacified with symbols she could not read and the handle adorned with a horned skull with black eyes … a sword worthy of its owner, as imposing and terrifying as him.  
Armed with his sword, the Lich King turned his gaze to the still confused Elsa, and with a strong and abrupt gesture raised the blade towards her. Elsa gasped in surprise and fear at the sight of the point of the sword only inches from her nose. Elsa took two steps back, her heart pounding and not understanding what the king was doing. The latter remained motionless, silent, his sword outstretched and his blue eyes raised to the sky. Elsa watched too, and could see that gradually and as if by magic, the snowflakes falling from the sky slowly began to spin and come towards the blade, as if drawn to it. The first flakes fell on the cold, silvery steel of the sword, and immediately, a fluid, bluish energy began to spill out and cover the blade, before Elsa's mesmerized eyes. The eyes of the horned skull on the hilt of the sword also began to glow with that same icy blue energy.  
_ "You have demonstrated your power to me, Queen Elsa ... now witness mine!" the Lich King announced forcefully, as he grasped the hilt of the sword firmly with both hands, and with a firm and precise gesture, slashed the blade which pierced the ice at his feet with a thud.  
Elsa then saw cracks forming across the ice in the lake, and a wave of cold wind exploded, evaporating all the snow around. The earth began to shake more and more and the calm rain of snowflakes gradually turned into a real storm. Hair shaking in the wind, Elsa tried to shield her face from the blizzard that had just magically appeared, while continuing to observe in amazement what was happening. The still calm Lich King rose to her feet, triumphant and looking towards her as the ice of the lake behind him split, cracked more and more and seemed to be lifted by something coming from below.  
Then, a first giant, clawed and skeletal paw emerged, breaking the ice ... then a second ... followed by a horned head with blue eyes and a reptilian body equally devoid of the slightest inch of flesh ... Round eyes and mouth opened in silent, Elsa gazed at this undead winged creature as large as a castle, emerging from its frozen prison, and gradually unfurling wings dark as night ... Elsa couldn't believe it .. ... it was ... a dragon! Elsa knew, however, that she was not dreaming ... so, such power existed ...  
The creature lifted its head to the sky in fury, letting its jaw hear a most monstrous roar.  
_ "This is only the beginning, Queen Elsa ..." announced the Lich King looking at her "... soon judgment, fear and hatred will be gone ... together we will build this new world."


End file.
